If you've ever compalined about RCI's food-- READ THIS!

Hi Everyone,

For those of you who've ever complained about RCI's food I just got off HAL's Oosterdam last night and I've got to tell you the food was horrible! I was onboard the ship as part of a TA Dinner (normally TA dinners are better then the standard fare since they try to "Wow" us).

I ordered the Veal Chop, which was so small and dry (the meat portion was about the size of a quarter). It came out STONE COLD and was accompanied by 2 baby carrots and INSTANT mashed potatoes!! The starter and soup and dessert also left a lot to be desired. The service onboard was not attentive or friendly either.

HAL markets itself as a Premium line but nothing I experienced last night would lead me to believe this to be true.

RCI might not have the best food around, but trust me for the price of their cruises it's 100% better then what I experienced on HAL.

Bob

NCL Sunward II / Emerald Seas

HAL Veendam (old and new)

HAL Zaandam

HAL Volendam (old and new)

HAL Maasdam / HAL Statendam

RCI Song of Norway

RCI Nordic Prince

RCI Sun Viking

RCI Song of America

NCL Southward / NCL Norway

Home Lines Homeric

RCI Sovereign of the Seas

RCI Majesty of the Seas

RCI Monarch of the Seas (2x)

RCI Grandeur (2x)

RCI Enchantment (4x)

RCI Vision / RCI Splendour

Celebrity Galaxy

Carnival Tropicale

Carnival Paradise

Carnival Destiny

RCI Nordic Empress (2x)

HAL Nieuw Amsterdam

HAL Noordam / NCL Sky (2x)

NCL Sun / NCL Dawn

NCL Sea / NCL Majesty

Carnival Victory

Carnival Glory

RCI Voyager (2x)

RCI Explorer / RCI Adventure

RCI Navigator / RCI Brilliance

RCI Serenade (2x)

RCI Mariner 11/12/03

RCI Nordic Empress 12/20/03

RCI Radiance 12/28/03

Cunard QM2 1/30/04

RCI Mariner 3/21/04

HAL Oosterdam 5/2/04

RCI Serenade 7/18/04

And more to come.....

Interesting....thanks for the info Bob

Navigator of the Seas 6/26/04

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OH no, it's contagious!!

I never understand why people get so passionate about the food reviews. I admit I was also very unimpressed with HAL food and service and will not go back. I just got off the Mariner yesterday and the food was fine. It may not have been 5 star, but it was by no means terrible.

I look at it from the perspective 'you get what you pay for'. Cruise prices are low and offer alot for your money. So I don't mind paying for the extra's (Chops or JR) only when I use them. Rather than pay higher cruise fares and not be able to go as often. But I am glad to hear I was not the only one dissapointed in HAL, I just expected so much more from them.

Michael

Soverign of the Seas Nov 99

Majesty of the Seas Apr 00, Nov OO

Enchangement of the Seas Sep 00, Oct 02

Rhaposdy of the Seas Jun 01

Elation Oct 01

Zuiderdam Apr 03

Radiance of the Seas Jun 03

Voyager Nov 03

Mariner Apr 04

Interesting, we were recently aboard Celebrity's Millennium for the Panama Canal transit and was looking forward to the food as a result of all the hyped up reviews about how great Celebrity's food was. Bottom line, the food was OK, nothing WOW about it, and frankly, we enjoyed the food aboard all our RCI cruises better.

<MA>....until the Bahamas aboard the Sovereign of the Seas March 21, 2005......<MA>

just goes to show food is very subjective and it really can be hit or miss,sometimes even from week to week.

"a bad day at sea is better than a great day at work and a lousy day at sea is still pretty damn good!"

Oh no! I know several sailing on the Oosterdam on May 8th! Whoops!

Legend of the Seas 06/13/04

<font color=purple>Viking Serenade 6/1992

</font>

Oh dear!

Thanks for the warnings!

Soveriegn 92 E. Caribbean

Majesty 95 W. Caribbean

Granduer 97 E. Caribbean

Rhapsody 00 Mexico

Vision 02 Alaska

Radiance 03 Panama Canal

Brilliance 3/29/04

Radiance of the Seas/Panama Canal 10/18/2003

Are we there yet?

My bags are always packed!

Brilliance 3/29/2004

I think Princess (only sailed once) and RCI food are about the same. Not great but when combined with the following, the food is AWESOME :-

1. 1 week off work

2. Great Weather

3. Great Fun

4. Relax, drink, relax

5. drink, relax, drink

6. Entertainment

7. Lovely views

8. Clear blue waters

9. "Wake up somewhere else" effect

10. Did I mention relaxing

11. Did I mention drinking

12. Did I mention a week off work

Give me 5 star food in a 5 star restaurant in the city second only to 3 star food on the Ocean.

See, it all depends on how you look at it

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RCCL - Mariner (April 3rd 2005) - Click here for April 3rd 2005 Mariner Roll Call

Princess - Golden (April 3rd 2004)

RCCL - Navigator (June 2003)

RCCL - Explorer (April 2002)

RCCL - Voyager (June 2001)

Carnival - Paradise (Dec/Jan 1999/2000 Millenium Cruise)

Big Red Boat (1997)

i've cruised celebrity, princess, and rci...and i have to say that the food on celebrity was probably the best, followed (and not by much) by rci...and princess a distant third...

having said that..i will say that when i go on a ship that is serving two to three thousand meals a day...granted, broken down into two seatings...my expectations are not the same as if i'm going to a restaurant that serves only a fraction of that...and as previous posters have said...hey...its a cruise...what can be bad?

Food isn't the most important thing on a cruise. But it would be nice if it was edible. Not the case on Costa Mediterranea. Bad food and rude service seemed to be the norm. We ate hamburgers at the pool everyday and thank goodness we brought some snacks with us. Rubber chops and steak.never saw the Italian food promised us either.I could go on and on, but I won't. We will never make that mistake again.

Yea, for RC and Princess. We will stick with them.

I was very pleased with RCI's food when we were on the Enchantment in November(our first RCI cruise). The only comparison I had at the time was Carnival.

I will be sailing on HAL for the first time next month. I'll let you know what I think. I have read the Lido food was very good. Did you have any experience with the Lido food?

Marie

HAL - MAASDAM - June 2004/Canada/New England

RCI - Mariner of the Seas,

Sept 2004(CC Group Cruise)

Carnival Miracle -February 2005

RCI Majesty of the Seas - Spring Break, March 2005

Celebrity Mercury, April 2005

I am glad I am not the only one who felt that way about HAL! When we got back and I wrote those same sentiments everyone blasted me and said I must be too picky. I think it is just that everyone talks about how classy and "superior" HAL is to RCCL and we were expecting so much more, just didn't get it. As for the Lido, we were on Maasdam and couldn't find a clean table. Not one ship's staff person offered to clean a table for us. We cleared our own, ate lunch, sat and talked with friends for a good 30 mins and the dirty dishes were still piled on the table when we left! Just didn't find the extra service everyone told us to expect. We have had much better food and service with RCCL.

I find cruise food to be on par with, and sometimes better than food at hotels/resorts. This is really what it should be compared with, not fine restaraunts, which specialize in food. Assuming cruise lines like RCI etc compare with hotel chains like Marriott, Hilton, etc, then I find the food to be very comparable to that served in the restaraunts of these chains locations.

If your expectations are set higher, you will be disappointed, as well as fooling yourself.

...left until Navigator of the Seas 11/13/04

When I said "not great" I should have said, food on both ships was "great" just not "awesome". I seemed kinda negative. My wife and I and the kids had so much choice of food, we could never fault what we actually ate - yum.

I wanna go on a cruise soon... boo hoo. I gotta a whole year to wait <sob>.

I just want to say that my DH and I sailed on the Oosterdam the first week of March.We cruise once a year and have been on most lines. We felt the food was some of the best we've had. The Lido we felt was quite a bit better than most. This was our first time on HAL. We mostly sail Princess and RCL. We did feel service was not as good as we were expecting, as we heard so much about it before we went. It was just ok.

Luv 2 Cruz

I realize food is very subjective. Personally I've never had a problem with RCI's food-- some has been better than others, but overall I've been quite pleased with the food on my 30+ sailings with RCI.

I was totally shocked that HAL would serve instant mashed potatoes-- that still had the "box" taste-- especially during a TA dinner! I was also less than impressed with the overall service onboard. Dirty plates sat in front of us on the table until we got up and left-- no refills on drinks were offered etc. I will say that the show the HAL Singers and Dancers put on was very entertaining.

Bob

NCL Sunward II / Emerald Seas

HAL Veendam (old and new)

HAL Zaandam

HAL Volendam (old and new)

HAL Maasdam / HAL Statendam

RCI Song of Norway

RCI Nordic Prince

RCI Sun Viking

RCI Song of America

NCL Southward / NCL Norway

Home Lines Homeric

RCI Sovereign of the Seas

RCI Majesty of the Seas

RCI Monarch of the Seas (2x)

RCI Grandeur (2x)

RCI Enchantment (4x)

RCI Vision / RCI Splendour

Celebrity Galaxy

Carnival Tropicale

Carnival Paradise

Carnival Destiny

RCI Nordic Empress (2x)

HAL Nieuw Amsterdam

HAL Noordam / NCL Sky (2x)

NCL Sun / NCL Dawn

NCL Sea / NCL Majesty

Carnival Victory

Carnival Glory

RCI Voyager (2x)

RCI Explorer / RCI Adventure

RCI Navigator / RCI Brilliance

RCI Serenade (2x)

RCI Mariner 11/12/03

RCI Nordic Empress 12/20/03

RCI Radiance 12/28/03

Cunard QM2 1/30/04

RCI Mariner 3/21/04

HAL Oosterdam 5/2/04

RCI Serenade 7/18/04

And more to come.....

Hi All,

We just got off the Mariner on Sunday and ate in the dining room every night. Food was excellent every night along with outstanding service provided by Nikolay, our waiter, and Fatima, assistant waiter, who always had a smile on her face. I believe RC had implemented a new menu a week before we sailed and that the ranch steak has been put to rest. The ship was beautiful and we had a great time.

Steve

Until Cruising on The Mariner

<marquee>RCL MOS 4/25/04, CCL Glory 8/16/03, NCL Majesty 10/27/02, CCL Celebration 2/94

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We can only hope the Ranch Steak is off the menu! Anytime a piece of beef is so tough and tasteless that they put a scoop of butter on top of it to melt - Look Out!

I don't cruise with HAL since our last cruise Sep/03 to Alaska on the Ryndam.Terrible service and food. Entertainment also poor.

I used to get wonderful service /food etc. with HAL. They have gone down hill big time in my books.

I still feel like I am getting good value with RCCL.

Alaska (my BIG 50)

I've been on two long (Panama Canal) (South America) HAL cruises and the food and service was excellent! Perhaps you just hit a bad time.

Jan from New Jersey

Celebrity - Carribean - Twice

RCCL - Alaska, Carribean

Holland America - Panama Canal and South America